News

Published in the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) blog, this article, “Pregnancy Penalty and the Scientist,” explores the pregnancy discrimination that women in STEM fields face because of their sex. The article points out that many of the top-tier research institutions in the United States do not have laws in place to protect pregnant women. The facts are that only 13 percent of top-tier research institutions provide any paid maternity leave for graduate students and only 20 percent for postdoctoral fellows. A dismal 43 percent provide no paid leave policy.

Additionally, attitudes in academia persist that reward fatherhood in male scientists but penalize female scientists for having children. These results reinforce that the problem is not only that enough girls aren’t choosing to become scientists and engineers, but that they are being set up for failure with current conditions in academics. Read the full article on the ASBMR website.